DETROIT – The Maggie Allesee Department of Theatre and Dance was granted membership to the University Residence Theatre Alliance (URTA) by vote in August 2016. URTA was founded in 1969 with the mission of supporting excellence in professional training of theatre artists, ensuring the continued renewal of the American theatre. Membership in URTA is a distinction, affirming that a program meets the highest standards in theatre training. Only 40 programs across the nation are members of this elite organization.

According to Maggie Allesee Department of Theatre and Dance Chair John Wolf, "Membership in URTA not only substantiates the high quality of our productions and education, but provides an avenue by which the graduate theatre program and the Hilberry Theatre can rise to the next level.”

Beyond being recognized as a program that meets the highest standards in theatre training, membership will also grant Wayne State University access to the annual URTA auditions and interviews held in New York, Chicago and San Francisco to search for potential theatre students. Wayne State University will benefit by seeing hundreds of top theatre candidates in the country and avoid the expense and inefficiency of arranging dozens of separate interviews and travelling to different campuses.                                                             

About the Maggie Allesee Department of Theatre and Dance:

Wayne State University’s Maggie Allesee Department of Theatre and Dance serves students as a nexus of performance, production, and research in the fields of dance, theatre, and performance studies. It provides a wide variety of degree programs that allow students the flexibility to study these disciplines broadly or to concentrate more specifically in performance, design, or management.  Wayne State University is a premier urban research institution offering more than 380 academic programs through 13 schools and colleges to more than 27,000 students.